Florida man fined $30,000 for tall grass. Now the city is foreclosing on his home.

By Laura Jazmin Tolliver ltolliver@pbpost.com

Thursday

May 9, 2019 at 9:27 AMMay 9, 2019 at 9:29 AM

Letting your grass grow too high might cost you — or at least it did for one Florida man.

The city of Dunedin’s Code Enforcement Board moved to foreclose the home of Jim Ficken, 69, Tuesday after he failed to pay nearly $30,000 in code violation fines he accrued in 2018, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

The city fined him $500 per day over the summer because his grass grew higher than 10 inches.

Ficken filed a lawsuit against Dunedin on the same day the city moved to foreclose his home.

The suit also hopes to end the city’s alleged practice of fining people “without considering a homeowner’s ability to pay.”

Ficken held a news conference in front of his home Wednesday to announce the filing of the lawsuit. His lawn was trimmed.

“It’s an excessive fine, and everyone I’ve spoken to says it’s outrageous,” Ficken, a retiree on a fixed income, said.